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Kenya is now the cheapest country to purchase diesel in Eastern Africa

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2022

Africa News Watch

Kenya is now the cheapest country to purchase diesel in Eastern Africa

Culled from Businessdailyafrica

By John Mutua

SUMMARY

A litre of the commodity costs Sh112.63 on average in Kenya, compared to Sh118.44, Sh139.08 and Sh149.91 in three of the six East African Community countries, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, respectively.
This bucks a trend where Kenya has had the costliest super petrol and diesel in the region mainly due to relatively high taxes and levies.
The shift in the market structure is linked to the introduction of monthly subsidies in Kenya, which cut the current diesel prices by Sh23.29 a litre.

Diesel prices in Kenya are the lowest in eastern Africa in the wake of the monthly subsidy, reversing the market structure that made the country’s fuel the most costly in the region.

A litre of the commodity costs Sh112.63 on average in Kenya, compared to Sh118.44, Sh139.08 and Sh149.91 in three of the six East African Community countries, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, respectively.

This bucks a trend where Kenya has had the costliest super petrol and diesel in the region mainly due to relatively high taxes and levies, which encourage local motorists in border towns to fuel in the neighbouring countries.

The shift in the market structure is linked to the introduction of monthly subsidies in Kenya, which cut the current diesel prices by Sh23.29 a litre.

“The big difference is mainly attributed to the subsidy that the government has been using,” said an official at the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra).

Kenya introduced the subsidy on April 14 last year as part of efforts to defuse simmering public anger over the high cost of basic items.

The subsidy has kept pump prices unchanged for the fourth month in a row despite a jump in the cost of shipping the refined fuel.

It is supported by billions of shillings raised from fuel consumers through the petroleum development levy, which was increased to Sh5.40 a litre in July 2020 from Sh0.40, a 1,250 percent rise.

The fund cushions consumers from volatility in fuel prices but has also seen motorists lose out when paying the Sh5.40 for a litre at the pump.

Tanzania is the only country in the region with cheaper super petrol than Kenya, according to the pricing list on GlobalPetrolPrices.com — a site that tracks fuel prices globally.

A litre of super petrol is averaging Sh131.63 in Kenya while in Tanzania it is going for Sh125.2. Uganda has the costliest super petrol in the region at Sh158.1 per litre followed by Burundi at Sh152.85.

In September last year, Kenya had the most expensive super petrol in the region at Sh134.72 per litre, while the commodity retailed at Sh131 in Uganda. It was the cheapest in Tanzania at Sh115.26. The relatively high cost in Kenya was linked to taxes and levies.

There are seven levies and two taxes that Epra takes into account when setting fuel prices, which have been blamed for the high cost of petroleum products. The levies accounted for nearly half of current petrol costs, shifting the spotlight to taxation of petroleum products.

Tanzania scrapped a Sh4.90 ($0.043) levy charged per litre of fuel in a bid to lower fuel prices from the start of this month.

Kenya’s fuel subsidy has been crippled in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war that pushed crude oil prices to levels seen more than 10 years ago.

Government sources say the Treasury will struggle to pay oil marketers more than Sh25 billion over the next two months to keep pump prices unchanged despite a jump in the cost of shipping the commodity.

The current fuel being consumed in Kenya is based on the average crude oil prices of $82.03 a barrel, and the monthly review set for next Tuesday at $92.

Oil prices have jumped more than 30 per cent since 24 February, touching $139 a barrel at one point this week.

The oil price had fallen back to about $106 a barrel at one point on Wednesday, but by Thursday morning it was trading at around $116.

Officials at the energy regulator Epra reckon that the Treasury would require at least Sh10 billion this month and another Sh15 billion in April to compensate oil marketers and keep local pump prices unchanged.

With the fund supporting the subsidy exhausted, the Treasury will struggle to pay the marketers billions of shillings at a time when it’s faced with rising spending pressure from critical items like the August General Election and Covid-19 vaccines.

jmutua@ke.nationmedia.com

VenturesNow

Fortuna Mining says Burkina Faso won’t scrap permits

Published

2 days ago

October 9, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Burkina Faso government does not intend to revoke Fortuna Mining’s current mining permits within the nation, the Canadian company said on Monday.

Ibrahim Traoré, the leader of the Junta, stated on Saturday that Burkina Faso intended to remove some mining permissions from international businesses and work towards increasing local gold production. However, he did not specify which permits would be revoked.

The entire index fell on Monday as shares of gold miners with projects in the West African nation plummeted precipitously at the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Fortuna Mining’s stock was down 9% at 3:25 PM ET (19:25 GMT). The owner of the Bombero gold mine, Orezone Gold Corp., had a 9% decrease on the TSX.

In addition to addressing several subjects on Saturday to mark two years as president, gold producer Endeavour Mining said Traor hinted that some mining permits would be cancelled.

Endeavour asserted that it is unaware of any intentions to cancel any of the company’s mining permits and that the government continues to support the business.

Growing insecurity has made things more difficult in West African country despite its rich mineral resources. ACLED, a U.S.-based crisis-monitoring organisation, asserts that in 2023, over 8,000 individuals lost their lives in the nation, even though the junta promised to suppress groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Burkina Faso has witnessed a boom in the mining sector since the early 2000s, primarily in the gold but also in the zinc and manganese industries. At the moment, the country is Africa’s fifth-largest producer of gold.

VenturesNow

Nigerian govt begins 2025 retirees’ enrollment

Published

2 days ago

October 9, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s National Pension Commission has declared that it has formally begun the process of enrolling potential retirees in 2025, highlighting the significance of early planning.

The commission demanded that ministries, departments, and agencies refrain from any last-minute rush that can interfere with the enrolment process and make it more difficult for retirees to adjust to their new stage of life.

At a workshop held by the National Pension Commission on Monday in Abuja to launch the online enrolment process for pension desk officers of MDAs funded by the Federal government’s Treasury for 2024, Omolola Oloworaran, the acting director-general of the commission, revealed this information.

Currently, 7,348,028 people in Nigeria, or 10.58% of the country’s working population, are registered members of the National Pension Scheme. The commission reported that it paid N1.1tn to 129,435 life annuity applicants in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting advances in pension benefits.

During her speech, the acting director general (DG) said that the purpose of this exercise is to gather precise information so that the federal government may evaluate the Accrued Pension Rights of potential retirees and make the appropriate budgetary adjustments.

The commission, she continued, has advanced significantly by automating the enrolment procedure and launching an online enrolment application that makes retiree enrolment, verification, and registration easy.

Oloworaran said, “At the National Pension Commission, we hold firmly to our statutory responsibility of ensuring a seamless pre-retirement verification and enrolment process for employees of Federal Government Treasury-funded MDAs. Each year, we embark on this exercise to gather accurate data for determining the Accrued Pension Rights of prospective retirees, so that the Federal Government can make the necessary budgetary provisions.

“Today’s session is not just a routine gathering; it is part of PenCom’s commitment to building the capacity of stakeholders, specifically you, the Pension Desk Officers, whose roles are indispensable in this process. Since 2021, we have made significant strides by automating the enrolment process, and introducing an Online Enrolment Application that allows seamless registration, verification, and enrolment of retirees.

“This system, comprising the Retiree, MDA, PFA, and PenCom modules, represents the future of pension administration in Nigeria. As PDOs, you are the linchpin in this process, ensuring that retiree information is properly uploaded and verified. Hence, this workshop aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively use the application and address any challenges that arise during the enrolment process. We are also here to confront the issues of the past head-on.”